In an attempt to catch up on some reviews(I could explain the reasons, but most of you probably don’t care) I am combining my reviews for Justice League #22 and Justice League of America #6. Justice League #22 came out a couple weeks ago and began the long talked about Trinity War. In the beginning James and I thought the Trinity was Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman. However it seems that it is Phantom Stranger, the Question and Pandora. We first saw Pandora at the end of Flashpoint #5, where she told Flash that history was shattered into three long ago. She also said “You can help me fix that, Barry Allen, but at a cost.” NO idea if that is also related to the Trinity War plot. In could be that DC completely forgot they wrote it and will never address it.

To sum up the story so far, 10,000 years ago a young girl(Pandora) found a golden skull, she picked it up and unleashed the seven deadly sins onto the world. For her crime she was punished, by the Council of the Rock of Eternity, to walk the Earth forever and witness what she had done. Before the final council member dies he tells her that the box can only be reopened by only the “strongest of heart or the darkest” She tried Superman and he went crazy for a moment. Shazam went to Khandaq to scatter Black Adam’s ashes. The JL flew in to see what he was doing, then the JLA flew in to see what they were doing. A fight broke out and Dr Light was killed by Superman. Superman surrendered himself to the JLA and now everyone is trying to figure out what is going on.

First of all I want to address my thoughts on the JLA, especially given recent events. Amanda Waller assembled the JLA as a means to fight the Justice League, a “just in case” measure. It was a sound idea. I can completly understand her wanting to have an AMerican Justice League in the event that SUperman and the others went rogue. What I don’t get is her choice in team members. She even went so far as to assign each of them a target member of the Justice League. Let’s review the roster;

Martian Manhunter – Superman. THis is one of the few match ups that makes sense. J’on is very powerful and a logical choice to take on SUperman(Shazam would have been better given SUperman’s vulnerability to magic).

Catwoman – Batman. Catwoman is a poor choice. She has her own skill set and plenty of experience. However she is no match for Batman in a one on one fight, plus there is a lot of emotional baggage between the two of them.

Katana – Wonder Woman. I don’t even understand the logic behind this, because there isn’t any. Diana is a very powerful meta human(a goddess), Katana is a girl with a sword.

Dr Light – Firestorm. As Steve tried to explain to Waller Light is not a soldier. He accidently shot an energy blast at Wonder WOman and got himself killed.

Simon Baz – Hal Jordan. I get the logic, fight a Green Lantern with a Green Lantern. In this case it is not a great idea. For one, they have a positive past history. Two, Hal has WAY more experience. Also, and I understand Waller might not know this, but Hal WILLED himself back from the dead and is currently the leader of the Green Lantern Corps, of which Simon is a member.

Vibe – Flash. At first I wasn’t sure of this one, in JLA #6 they point out that Vibe can disrupt Barry’s connection to the speed force.

Stargirl – Cyborg. This is another case of being completely out gunned.

Hawkman – Aquaman. This is a good match up, both have super human strength and endurance. As long as the fight is not near the coast it is a even match.

Atom – Elemental Girl. I guess the plan was for Atom to neutralize Elemental Girl’s powers at the molecular level. AS we saw all she did was beg people to stop fighting.

All in all not great with the match ups. Also let’s address the lack of power on the team. Of the nine members 4 have no actual superpowers(Without a power ring Simon is just a car thief and without the staff Stargirl is just a teenager). Dr Light and Atom are useful from a scientific standpoint, but not in direct combat. Then you also factor in that most of the team is new to the meta human arena.

My personal favorite is that the JLA itself doesn’t think they are a match for the Justice League. in JL #22 within 2 pages everyone on the team, except for Hawkman and Manhunter either say they shouldn’t or can’t fight the Justice League. The team also lacks a sense of unity. At this point I think the Teen Titans stand a better chance against the Justice League than the JLA does.

I do want to see where this whole thing goes, but in it’s current state I do not see the JLA lasting very long.